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CJG Blog

Center for Jewish Genetics blog

Growing up with divorced parents, the Thanksgiving holiday
was always a little complicated. When you’re Jewish, almost every holiday you
celebrate has two (or more) nights – one for each parent. But Thanksgiving is just
a single day and night. One particularly memorable year in college, my sister
and I celebrated three Thanksgivings: holiday lunch with mom’s side, turkey
dinner with dad’s family, and then pumpkin pie with a cousin who was hosting
her in-laws.

As hectic as it was, three Thanksgiving celebrations meant
more chances to reflect on what I felt thankful for, and more of what I
consider the best meal of the year (I can’t get enough sweet potato casserole
with marshmallows on top). More importantly, I spent the holiday enjoying time
with pretty much my entire family – parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and
cousins on both sides. It was a perfect day to piece together my family health
history.

Like many Jewish families, when my relatives and I get
together, we share stories and eat traditional meals cooked from recipes that
have been passed down for generations. But we don’t talk nearly enough about another
piece of our family history: health conditions that may be inherited, too. I
might know that my uncle has one health affliction and my grandma passed away
from another, but different family members have other knowledge and together we
hold more pieces to the puzzle. Putting it all together can help us protect our
health and the health of our loved ones.

The Thanksgiving holiday brings families together – whether you
have three celebrations, like me, or it’s a simpler affair – to pause and
reflect. This year, take the time to reflect on your family health history as
well. Discuss your own information, ask questions of other family members,
compare notes, and, ultimately, share this knowledge with your healthcare
provider and encourage your relatives to do the same. Hopefully, these
conversations will help to keep us thankful for our health for years to come.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Not sure how to get
started? Learn more about family health history and find tools and worksheets
to help you collect key information on our family health
history page.

On the agenda this time: how we’ll move forward with what we
learned from the Community Needs Assessment. We’re refining how we raise awareness
about Jewish genetic healthtopics
in both Jewish and secular settings. Our vision is to empower the Jewish
community, starting in Chicagoland and moving outward, to take ownership over
their health. We hope to:

Equip folks
with greater knowledge of their genetic health risks

Provide resources and support to help people
start conversations about family health history

As
we look forward, the community needs assessment will serve as aguide
for the development of educational resources and supports. The Sarnoff
Center has already been an educational resource for Jewish communities for
almost 20 years, and we’re expanding our educational offerings and tools. Based on our findings, we developed best
practice recommendations that cover four dimensions: Messaging, outreach,
programming, and assessment.

Messaging

Emphasize
empowerment and that people
can act to prevent Jewish genetic disorders and hereditary cancers

Focus
on family health history (FHH): How to take an FHH, the benefits of learning
about FHH

Make
Jewish genetic health personal: Share how it is relevant to my life

Address and
dispel misconceptions about Jewish genetic health

Outreach

Reach people where they are: Go
to Jewish events, emphasize peer education and education through family members

Provide resources and support to rabbis,
healthcare providers and therapists around Jewish genetic health

Strengthen partnerships with Jewish
institutions and health institutions to get
Jewish genetics on the agenda

What is the most valuable gift you can give to your family? The gift of good health! There are many health conditions that run in families. Knowing your family health history can alert you to the potential risk for a variety of
genetic disorders
. Talk to your relatives for warning signs and
assess your risk
for hereditary cancers.

Did you know: Ashkenazi Jews are 10 TIMES more likely to have BRCA mutations, which significantly increases lifetime risks for hereditary cancers, so what does this heightened risk mean for you?
Click here to learn more
.